A social network service is an online service, platform or site that focuses on building social networks or social relations among people (e.g., those who share interests and/or activities). A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as by e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.
Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook®) present to a particular user the posts and stories by other users in a social networking feed (referred to as a “news feed”). When a user posts a message (e.g., update) on a social network site, it is a snapshot in time and disassociated with the other posts made by the user. For example, the user may post a message, such as “Going to Franco's Restaurant,” followed by the posts of “These shoes are terrible” and “I sold a suite of software.” As a result, these posts provide the user's followers (e.g., friends in the user's social network) a disjointed personal history of the user thereby providing an incomplete view of the user's personal history.